Tel Aviv Staircase

Taken on this year's Worldwide Photowalk (textured "wallpaper" added by me in post-processing). Click to enlarge.

Visit Wordless Wednesday to see what else people aren't saying this week, and Wordful Wednesday to see what they are.

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!

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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.

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Summer Stock Sunday - Tel Aviv Graffitti

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After the gravity of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which ended at sundown today (Saturday) I thought a little levity would be in order - I stumbled across this whimsical street art on a building in South Tel Aviv during this summer's Worldwide Photowalk.

Only one more week of Summer Stock left after this one so get those summer shots in. Fall will be here in full force before we know it.

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Neve Zedek Sidewalk

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A quickie from me for Ruby Tuesday this week, the kids and I fly out in about 36 hours for a month in New Hampshire and I'm deep, oh so deep, in packing hell. Apologies in advance if I don't make it around to your blogs this week...
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Here's another one from the photowalk, a bit of a departure from the previous post.
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Click to visit Around the Island Photography

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My photography is available for purchase - visit Around the Island Photography and bring home something beautiful today!
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If the photo you're wishing for is something you've seen here on the blog which isn't in my etsy shop yet just let me know and I'll happily list it for you.
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Summer Stock Sunday - It's Worldwide Photowalk Time!

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What a fun day I just had! Today, Saturday July 24th, was (or depending on when you read this perhaps still is) Scott Kelby's Third Annual Worldwide Photowalk. After a few logistical complications a photography enthusiast friend and I joined the Tel Aviv walk again this year (we'd planned to attend the walk in Jerusalem's Old City but it was not to be, I'll have to get back there on my own this fall), where we spent a delightful morning meandering the streets and alleys of Tel Aviv's picturesque Neve Zedek neighborhood. Founded in 1887, Neve Zedek was one of the first neighborhoods to be built in the then-brand new city of Tel Aviv. The neighborhood has seen ups and downs since its early days but is today home to a thriving (and very upscale) collection of shops, galleries and beautifully restored period homes. One of Tel Aviv's architectural gems, it is a true visual feast for the photographer. No matter how many times I visit there's always something new to catch my eye - and my lens.
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It will take me quite a while to sort through and process all the images I made today (suffice it to say that for the first time ever I filled up my entire memory card and had to borrow one from a fellow walker, but my newfound love for shooting in RAW is mainly to blame for that - and rest assured a larger memory card
will be purchased as soon as I finish this post!) but here's a teaser to whet your appetites:
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Click to visit my etsy store - Around the Island Photography.

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This year's Worldwide Photowalk included a mindboggling 1,111 walks with over 33,330 walkers taking part - what an amazing experience to be a part of and a highlight of my summer again this year. 

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What's stood out for you so far this summer? Join Summer Stock and tell us all about it! 

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Building Facade, Tel Aviv 2009

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Click to enlarge

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Another more vertigo-inducing view of this building. It had been hanging around in my archives for a while and seemed tailor-made for Carmi's Thematic Photographic, which is looking at buildings this week. It's been ages since I participated, I'm glad this week's theme gave me a way to jump back in.
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I hope you're all enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, or for the non-Americans out there a wonderful not-a-holiday-where-we-live weekend.
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(Damn, this image looks really distorted shrunk down. View it full size for a much crisper view without any of those horrible wavy lines.)

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Street Cat, Tel Aviv 2009

Click to enlarge

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Visit Wordless Wednesday to see what other people aren't saying this week.

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Because things were getting too sticky sweet around here

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Now don't get me wrong, I love beautiful photos of exotic animals as much as the next person, especially ones as sweet as this one or as wild looking as this one or this one, but lets face it, there have been a lot of animals around here lately. Too many animals. (Obviously my last big photo excursion was to the zoo. It was a great success imagewise but it's time for some variety. This city kid was starting to twitch. )
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Enter the illustrious Mary the Teach to the rescue. She decided, and just in time, too, that her Window Views project can now include doors as well, and what do you know, I just happen to have a few of those kicking around in the ol' archives. I have plenty of windows too, but what can I say, I'm feeling the need to live on the edge a little - not a window, not even a door, but rather a doorframe - a mere fragment of a door. Because that rebellious make it my own streak is still alive and well around the old island. (Dear god I've gotten old if simply choosing a slightly off-centered photo is considered rebellion - what happened to all those late nights, sneaking out of my house to go get into whole heaps of trouble meet up with my friends? Now I'm content to rebel by posting an image of a doorframe. Sheesh. At least it's a slightly gritty, graffitied one. Maybe there's hope for me after all. (Then again, maybe not.) I think one day soon I'll have to play hooky and do another serious photowalk around Tel Aviv and feed the muse before she abandons me completely. Anyone want to join me?)
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Though now that I look at it, even my supposed gritty door has a series of cute little hearts on it. Ack! I can't get away! The cute, it's winning! Send help! Send me locations of rusty metal, of rotting wood, of old junk, anything for a break from the cute. I'm doomed, doomed I tell you. Next thing you know my blog sidebar is going to fill up with sparkles and unicorns.
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Slinking away to go cry in my not at all edgy Coke Zero now...
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Oh yeah, and here's the photo. Is anyone even still reading this far down?
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Click to enlarge (and just so we're clear - this isn't my door - mine is much more boring)

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PS I'm also trying to reawaken the writing portion of my brain, the one that used to have the upper hand on this blog, and then to convince it to play nicely with the photography side. What do you think? Is it working?
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Dusty Window

Caught in Tel Aviv a while back

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Forgive me if I'm slow answering comments lately, I'm actually reading a book! An actual book. With pages. A whole series of them in fact. I was looking for something to read about two weeks ago and on a whim decided to reread Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander (yes, of Russell Crowe fame, but the movie is actually drawn from a number of different volumes of the series, leading to some confusion as I reread them), but of course O'Brian cleverly ends each volume with the lead-in to the next installment in the series and before I knew it one thing had led to another and I'm now on the 13th book in the 21-volume series. Happily (but impractically) we already owned them all so there has been nothing to stop me from racing helter-skelter from one to the other. I remembered just enough from my first read years ago to entice me ahead, not enough to allow me the rest that comes from knowing what's ahead.

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I so rarely take the time to completely immerse myself in a really good story these days, I'd forgotten how much I love it, and how overwhelmingly consuming it becomes.

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So, what has consumed you lately? Where has your passion taken you?

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Vampires take heed

Garlic drying outside a Tel Aviv apartment (click to enlarge)

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Congratulations to Mary on the fiftieth edition of Sepia Scenes this week, it's been a delight. Onward to the next fifty!

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Weathered Door

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Click to enlarge

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I really love this old weathered door that I came across in Tel Aviv's decaying but slowly gentrifying Neve Zedek neighborhood. Its age lends itself well to sepia but as I often do I prefer the full color version, it tells us more of the story.

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Which one gets your vote? Why? (There is of course no "right" answer, I'm just curious.)

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Allenby Street Window

Click to enlarge

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I love this second story window along Tel Aviv's Allenby Street with its cheeky little round balcony perched on top. Both the neighborhood and the building have clearly seen better days but I think that the structure has a lot of potential, if only someone would come along and give it the TLC it needs.
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More windows around the world can be found here.
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Street scenes you don't find everyday

Click to enlarge, if you dare

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In his defence, this was just a few blocks away from the beach, and he is quite easy on the eyes. Still...

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Visit Wordless Wednesday to see what other people aren't saying this week.

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Just a little something to make you smile

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Found this on the photowalk too. It's bright, casual, summery feel made me smile. I hope it makes you smile too.
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I just got back from the kids' end of the year party for their afternoon program (yes, it's an end of the school year thing, yes, it's nearly August, no, I don't know why they wait this long) and still have a ton of laundry packing to do before we fly to the States tomorrow night so this week's Ruby Tuesday is an in and out stealth post. I apologize in advance if I don't get around to see your blogs, and if you see me hanging out online anywhere tomorrow boot my butt off the computer and tell me to get back to my packing already! After that it's a twelve hour transatlantic flight, then a two hour hop, then two more hours by car, after which we will hopefully arrive, somewhat the worse for wear, at my parents' house in New Hampshire for a month of fun in the (damn well better be) sun (and some work for me along the way, but hopefully not too much).
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Catch you on the flip side!
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No Bathing

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This is my favorite shot from last Saturday's photowalk. I like it's edgy, gritty feel, and the fact that the signs were obviously swiped from the beach a few blocks away and put into the window of this old back alley building on the far side of Tel Aviv's Carmel Market.
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Many more windows, most containing glass rather than old plywood I'd venture to say, can be found over at Window Views. Stop by and check it out.
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I'm speechless

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Speechless. A fairly appropriate condition for Wordless Wednesday, wouldn't you say?
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Click to enlarge, if you truly want an up close and personal view of a toilet turned planter

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I'm sneaking this one in as a last minute contribution to Thematic Photographic's "odd" theme as well. When I saw Carmi's choice to kick off the theme last week I knew this photowalk shot had to get in there too.
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In support of foreign workers

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During Saturday's photowalk we came across a group of people protesting the Israeli government's abominable treatment of foreign workers. The government is trying to get rid of them by making their lives untenable, and the persecution has hit an all-time low this month, with even those with legal work permits being forced out of the center of the country to the periphery, far from potential sources of employment. There are stories of parents taken away in front of their (Israeli-born) children's eyes, of people's visas being cancelled, it's one outrage after another against a population to weak to defend itself.
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Yes, some of them are here illegally. Not all, but yes, some. They are here because conditions in their home countries are bad enough that it is worth it to them to leave their families and everything they know behind to come to this country for the "privilege" of scrubbing our toilets. On the whole, they are a hard-working, decent, and highly moral community, and our government is repaying them by making their lives so miserable that they have no choice but to leave. These people are not taking jobs away from Israelis - just go try and find an Israeli cleaner, they're rarer than a two-headed unicorn.
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I've done some outreach work with the foreign worker community and as an Israeli the treatment they are receiving now both horrifies and humiliates me. You would think this government didn't have enough to worry about without persecuting those too weak to fight back.
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I don't know how much good a protest like this one will do, and I have no idea what the "Clown Army" was trying to accomplish, other than attracting attention (though perhaps that in and of itself was enough of a goal), but I'll say this: I was proud to count myself among them for a few minutes last Saturday, and wish I could do more than simply publish a few photos and discuss their plight here on my little blog.
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Click to enlarge any photo (please do, the color is much better that way, it looks way oversaturated in the small version)

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Visit Work of the Poet to see where else red is cropping up this week.

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City Bench, July 2009

Click to enlarge

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I thought about titling this post "Why?" Why is it that with all the resources of the Western world scenes like this are still far too common?
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I shot this image yesterday, during the Tel Aviv segment of Scott Kelby's second annual Worldwide Photowalk. It was taken in the heart of Tel Aviv's financial district, bank headquarters and high-priced restaurants all around, and just steps away from a group of people protesting the government's abominable treatment of Israel's foreign workers. The contrasts were overwhelming (and quite colorful, come back later tomorrow to see the protest in living technicolor). How is it that with all this wealth all around there is still so much need. Wouldn't a society, OUR society, be better judged by how it treats its weakest elements, rather than solely by the achievements of the wealthy?
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See more images (both mine and others') from yesterday's photowalk here (mine are posted under the username itaismom).
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See more monochrome images here.
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Summer Stock #8 - Tel Aviv Photo Walk

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I spent four hot and very sweaty hours today trundling around South Tel Aviv as part of Scott Kelby's second annual Worldwide Photowalk. These photowalks are taking place in over 900 (yes, 900) locations around the world today, with over 30,000 people walking. I'd checked a while back and been disappointed to see that there were no walks scheduled in Israel. Luckily I decided to check once more yesterday and was delighted to see that there were now three - including one right in Tel Aviv (big props to our photowalk host Lior for taking the initiative and organizing it). Over the course of the afternoon our not so little group wove our way around the southern end of the city from the beach, inward through the colorful and quirky Neve Zedek neighborhood, then into the shadows of luxury highrises and back out through industrial back alleys which haven't changed noticeably in the past thirty years, except for increasing amounts of crumbling plaster and peeling paint, and finally back to the beach to catch the (somewhat disappointing) sunset over the Mediterranean Sea.
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For Summer Stock today I've chosen a few highlights, many more images will follow as I have time to process them in the coming days.
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All images are clickable. Enjoy.
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This was my day today. I had a great, if very hot, afternoon on the photowalk. It was a really interesting group too, ranging from serious professional photographers with lenses bigger than my arm (not really, but nearly) to interested amateurs with little point and shoots, and pretty much everything in between. I'm really looking forward to seeing the images everyone came away with.

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Now it's your turn. Put up your Summer Stock post and then come here and post your permalink (the link to the individual post, rather than to your blog's main page - this makes it much easier for everyone to follow along - you can get the permalink by clicking on your post's title). Your Summer Stock images can be anything at all that says summer to you, but please tag the post as Summer Stock and link back to Around the Island so that we can all find you. Most importantly, have fun with it, and do take the time to visit your fellow participants - it's great fun to see what summer looks like all over the world.
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UPDATE: I, or rather my blog, has been migrated to mister linkie's new server so all is well again in linkie land. I'll add links for those who've posted theirs in comments, for those of you just arriving now please just add your permalink as usual. Hopefully the links will work more smoothly from here on out.
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